Bring On the Heat
by The Novelist in Training
Summary: Castle and Beckett are going to read Heat Wave for some fans at Comic Con. Rick just wants to help her get over her stage fright and gets a lot more!  Inspired by Stana and Nathan's reading at Comic Con.


Inspired by the video from Comic Con on my profile!

I own nothing.

* * *

"Beckett, please?"

"Castle,"

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Beckett, _please,"_

"No, Castle! How many times do I have to tell you? No. It's a noun, and an adjective with multiple meaning, included but not limited to 'not. Going. To. Happen.' Capeesh?"

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask you to do!"

"Castle, you have that-that…gleam in your eyes!" She argued. "It's going to be something potentially embarrassing or painful."

The conversation had been going on since they left his apartment that morning. Though Kate was still living with the Castle Clan everything else was as it had been before all this there's-a-serial-killer-out-to-get-me-shit had occurred.

Rick's eyes widened as he flopped into his chair beside her desk. "You know me too well."

She scoffed. "I'm a detective, Castle, I observe things and add them together for a living. That and the fact that I've been living with you for a month and you've been following me like a puppy for two years mean I _should_ know those things about you." She showed no emotion as she spoke, carefully returning to the paperwork he had-literally-dragged her away from last night.

"Okay, look," he began reaching for the bear claw on her desk. They had ordered two and by some luck had been given three. Nothing like a little luck to start of your Monday.

She swatted away his hand without so much as glancing away for the file in front of her. "We're going to be here for a while, Castle, save it for when you need it."

He rolled his eyes as he leaned back into his chair. Attempt number 855 of that morning to 'pull Kate's pigtails' was to prop his feet on the corner of her desk. This attempt too was swatted away and came with a threat that would most defiantly be making its way into _Naked Heat_. His feet hit the floor with a dull thud and before he could bat an eyeslash Kate has twisted in her chair, taking the file off of her desk. Rick braced himself as he waited for the folder to come in contact with his head, but it never came. The folder came to rest in her lap, her feet propped in his.

_Fine_, Kate thought as she continued to scribble away. _It takes two to tango._

Rick wasn't exactly sure of what to make of this new development, so he brushed it off, returning to their conversation. "There's a fundraiser at Comic Con next weekend—"

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Well, I'm going, and they're having me read some of Heat Wave, to get in people will need an additional pass and all of the money goes to charity,"

"Which one?"

"Make A Wish Foundation,"

She nodded. A charity benefiting sick children with dreams. Of course. He was a father, she should've known. "And what do you need from me?"

"Well, we can charge more if you would maybe come and take turns reading with me," his words tumbled out in a rush. If she hadn't been listening to him for the past two years she probably wouldn't have understand.

"I don't know, Castle…" She trailed off. How was she supposed to answer that? Yes, she wanted to help—why wouldn't she? She wasn't cold hearted. That wasn't the problem.

"Why not?" He pouted like a golden retriever being left home while his owner went for a walk. The sight was pathetic, and heart wrenching…mostly heart wrenching.

Kate bit her lip. She figured the chances of him believing anything but the truth were about a million to nothing. She might as well tell the truth and get it over with. "There will be people. A lot of people."

"Well, yes, there generally _are_ a lot of people at Comic Con. It'll be fun!" He argued.

"I don't mind that there will be a lot of people, Castle," she tried again. "What I mind is that there will be a lot of people staring at us."

Rick frowned. He had suspected Kate had stage fright sort of attention issues based on the way she acted when they were with paparazzi, but this was Kate Beckett we were talking about, for crying out loud! She could chase, catch and cuff a guy in five inch heels, what couldn't she do!

"So you're reluctant to go because you have stage fright?" He repeated for clarification.

She smiled weakly, trying to shrug it off. "Basically."

"But you _want _to, right?"

"Yes," she said cautiously. Then she saw it again. The glimmer in his eyes. "Castle, what are you planning this time?"

He smiled, and shockingly she didn't feel as terrified as she should have. "Practice makes perfect,"

* * *

Practice they did.

Every night after work, even twice in the break room during lunch. IT got to the point where Kate could be in her car in traffic on the way to interrogate a suspect and she would recite parts of the book to him.

That wasn't the shocking part. What shocked her was that they weren't just going to read. They were going to act a little. Something that came to her as easily as breathing. This meant flirting. Over emotional readings. Locked eyes, laughs, shoving, teasing, making faces, the whole nine yards.

"We should practice."

Kate laughed, as she turned down the radio. "Castle, we've done _nothing but_ practice!" She was happier lately, she was letting loose more, laughing louder, and had even told Castle she didn't need a drink to take him. Everybody was growing accustom to the happier woman who vacated Detective Beckett's desk.

"No, no, no, I mean in front of people."

She frowned. "I don't like that idea."

"Practice makes perfect," He quoted for the five hundred and fiftieth time since he had proposed the idea.

"Castle, if you use that phrase again, I will make you cry."

"Threat or promise?"

"What do you think?"

Castle smiled. "So, I think we should have Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, Mother, and Alexis listen to us practice tonight."

"Do I have a choice?" She asked running a hand through her hair.

"Well, if you plan on coming home tonight I'd say no."

She sighed. "We're having Chinese for dinner." She said. "If I'm going to suffer at least let me eat something good."

He pouted. "You don't like my cooking?"

"I do, but I don't feel like doing the dishes."

"You're a very wise woman, Detective."

She snorted. "Most people would say lazy."

He rolled his eyes. "I can think of about a million words to describe you. Lazy is not one of them."

* * *

That night the five friends sat on the Castle's sofa. Kate and Rick sat on barstools in the kitchen. Both had a glass of ice water and a microphone. Kate hadn't even asked about the mics. This was Castle after all.

Castle being Castle was beyond excitement. He was way too enthusiastic. "Where should we start?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't care."

They wouldn't read the entire thing at Comic Con, only up until page 105. There would be children present.

"Page 104," Lanie demanded. She wore a wicked grin similar to Castle's.

"There are minor's present!" Kate protested as she felt her face heat up.

"I'm sixteen!" Alexis protested. "I've read this book at least five times. I will not be offended."

Castle and Beckett exchanged a glance. They wanted page 104? Then they'd get it.

Kate groaned for dramatic effect. "Fine. Castle, where's the damn book?"

He grabbed it off the coffee table and handed it to the 'frustrated' woman next to him. "I can go first," He offered.

She tossed the book to him. It skidded across the counter and into his lap.

Rick tapped the microphone. When he was convinced it was on he flipped through his book until he found the page. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.

"You know what?" Esposito interrupted. "I think that for the purpose of this exercise, you should replace Nikki with Katherine Beckett."

Beckett rolled her eyes, but Castle agreed. (Only after Kate gave him the okay.)

Beckett got comfortable, leaning closer so that she could read over his shoulder. She rested her chin in her hand and smiled, signaling that he should proceed. Rick cleared his throat again before speaking. As with his other readings he was overdramatic. "_Tentatively..._Slowly_…each drew an inch closer,_" Kate slid closer to him so that she was leaning against him. "_each still silent…each still holding the other's…steady gaze."_ He glanced away to do so and they smiled at each other. It was a miracle they were both able to keep a straight face.

"_Whatever worry or uncertainty or conflict she'd felt before, she pushed it aside as too much thinking."_ Kate flicked her wrist as if to say 'forget about it.' Castle wiggled his eyes suggestively. "_At that moment, Katherine Beckett didn't want to think. She wanted to _be_." _Kate took his pause as an opportunity to strip off the jacket she had been wearing. Esposito's wolf-whistle was met immediately by Lanie's slap across the back of the head.

Rick's eyes widened as he watched the talented detective. He tugged at his shirt collar as if to say 'Man, it's hot in here.'

Kate cuddled back up against his side.

Rick coughed. "Now, where was I?" Kate came to his rescue, gesturing to a random point on the page. "Right, thanks. _She reached out and gently touched his jaw where she had struck him earlier._" Rick made a face as though he was remembering the incident. "_She rose up on one knee and leaned forward to him and, rising above him, lightly kissed his cheek…" _Kate rolled her eyes._ "Katherine-Kate hovered there, studying the play of shadows and candlelight on his face. The soft ends of her hair dangled down and brushed him."_ Kate shook her head at his antics. "_He reached out, gently smoothing one side back, lightly stroking her temple as he did….Leaning there above him, Kate could feel the warmth from his chest coming up to meet hers and she inhaled the mild scent of his…co-lahg-na." _Kate tried to stifle laughter behind her hand; this too was part of the act.

Rick frowned as he pretend-tried to sound out the word. He mouthed something under his breath before glancing at Kate for assistance. She glanced at the page before whispering the correct pronunciation in his ear.

"_Cologne,"_ He corrected himself with affirmative nod._ "The flickering of the candles gave the room a feeling of motion, the way it looked to Katherine when the plane she was in flew through a cloud….She pressed herself down to him and he came to meet her, the two of them not so much moving as drifting weightless toward each other, attracted by some irresistible force in nature that had no name, color, or taste…only heat."_

He handed the book to Kate. Rick took a swallow of his ice water. Closing his eyes in contentment, he settled in to listen.

"_And then what began so gently took on its own life….They flew to each other, locking open mouths together,"_ Kate twirled her hair idly. Castle grabbed a piece of mail off the counter and began fanning himself. Apparently, he couldn't stand the heat. _"crossing some line that dared them…"_ While Kate paused to take a breath, he dropped an ice cube down his shirt. She spared him a brief glance before continuing. "and they took it._ They tasted deeply and touched each other…with a frenzy of _eagerness," Castle fished the ice cube out of his shirt, and brushed the melting cube against his forehead. _"fired by wonder and craving,"_ Having run out of uses for the piece of ice, Castle tossed it over his shoulder without a second thought. He settled back in to listen to the rest of what Kate had to say. "_the two of them released at last to test the edge of their passion."_

Their audience of five began to applaud, minus our favorite ME.

"Uh-uh, I know there is more on that page."

"There are minors present." Kate repeated the earlier excuse.

"Come on girl, you cannot not leave us hanging!" Lanie protested. "How often do you get to hear Nikki Heat and Jamison Rook tell their story?"

Kate shook her head. "Nu-uh, not happening."

Rick pouted beside her. "I think it would be fun."

"Really, _Ricky?_ With your daughter and mother in the room?"

He reconsidered for a moment. "And that concludes tonight's performance. If you want to hear more, we'll be at Comic Con Sunday morning, hope you can join us."

"I was watchin' just as much as I was hearin'" Esposito chipped in.

"Yeah, it's the show they want more of," Ryan tacked on.

"Oh, you want to _watch_ more?" Kate clarified.

"Yes!"

"Duh!"

"Totally!"

"Please,"

"Come on girl,"

Kate bit her lip. She hopped off oh her stool and walked around to the front of their counter-the make believe stage. "I don't know, Castle, should we give them more?"

Now this, this was not part of the plan. Castle made his way to stand next to her. They were both in bare stocking feet, meaning Kate wasn't his height anymore, but the way she looked right into his eyes made it impossible to think about such minor details. "I guess we could," he said testing the waters. If Kate wanted to play, he was game.

"You sure, Castle?" She took a step closer, all but eliminating the space between them. "Can you stand the _heat?"_

He laughed. "I invented the heat,"

"You thing you can handle it?"

"Bring it," he breathed. His words barely audible, and yet it was as though he had been yelling them, they seemed to echo throughout the room.

Kate stood up on her tiptoes, gripped onto the lapels of shirt, and pressed her lips to his.

Kate Beckett and Richard Castle weren't exactly Nikki Heat and Jamison Rook. You couldn't compare their passion. The real life pair's was five times stronger.

Her hands came tangle in his hair, his hands came to rest on her hips. Though it was a mild seventy degrees in the loft, their bodies coursed with heat. Her tongue traced his bottom lip, a desperate plea for an unrefuseable entrance. Their tongues fought for dominance, and neither would back down. His thumbs slipped under her shirt as the door slammed shut.

The two jumped as though they had been electrocuted. Their mouths were the only part of their bodies that weren't in contact with the other.

Kate blushed, remembering they hadn't been alone, but when she glanced around the loft she found no signs of human life. The only sound was that of their racing hearts and ragged breath.

She could have to apologize to Alexis for shoving her tongue down her father's throat while she was present. "Maybe we should," what? Go find them? Talk to them?

Rick chuckled. "What's the matter, Detective? Can't stand the heat?"

She smiled, turning to face him. "it's on."


End file.
